A.L. Butcher's Blog, page 42
October 7, 2023
Check out the Legacy of The Mask Series
Award-winning #historicalfantasy based on the #PhantomoftheOpera.
Echoes of a Song:
A dozen tumultuous years after the dramatic events at the Paris Opera House Raoul, Comte de Chagny is still haunted by the mysterious Opera Ghost – the creature of legend who held staff at the Opera House under his thrall, kidnapped Raoul’s lover and murdered his brother. In Raoul’s troubled imagination the ghosts of the past are everywhere, and strange and powerful music still calls in his dreams.
Madness, obsession and the legacy of the past weave their spell in this short, tragic tale based on the Phantom of the Opera.
Best fantasy 2019 on reviewer site NN Light Book Heaven!
Available on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and many other stores on the link below.
Universal Link https://books2read.com/Echoesofasong
Tears and Crimson Velvet
Madame Giry finds herself embroiled in the tragedy unfolding at the Opera house; mystery and murder stalk the corridors and, it is said, a ghost haunts the place. Giry knows the truth, for she recalls the caged man she met so many years ago. This is her story, their story.
When murder and mystery begin at the Opera House one woman knows who is behind it, and what really lies beneath the mask. Secrets, lies and tragedy sing a powerful song in this ‘might have been’ tale.
Winner of the 2020 Best Short Story award on NNLight Book Heaven
A short, tragic tale based on characters from Phantom of the Opera.
A Legacy of the Mask Tale.
https://books2read.com/TearsandCrimson
October 3, 2023
Twice Upon a Midnight Blog Tour and Giveaway #Regency #Romance
When once upon a time…becomes twice upon a midnight… With a masked ball, evil stepfather, jealous half brother, and unlikely fairy godmother, TWICE UPON A MIDNIGHT is a Cinderella story that readers of Regency romance will love!
Twice Upon a Midnight
A Regency Cinderella Story
by Anna Harrington
Genre: Regency Romance
WHEN ONCE UPON A TIME…BECOMES TWICE UPON A MIDNIGHT
When Lady Elenora Darby returns to London, what better way for her parents to introduce her—and attract suitors—than to throw a masked ball? But Ella prefers poets to peers, and in the dark gardens, she encounters a man she knows nothing about…except that he loves poetry. Before she can learn his name, midnight strikes, and he vanishes, leaving behind only one clue to his identity—a glove embroidered with his initials.
As the Duke of Pensworth’s unwanted stepson, Spenser Rhodes has nothing to do with society…until he meets Ella. He knows they have no future. After all, the daughter of a duke deserves a peer, not a printer. Yet Ella is determined to find her masked man. As her search brings them closer, more than society is keeping them apart—so is Spenser’s half brother Simon, who wants Ella for himself.
With a masked ball, evil stepfather, jealous half brother, and unlikely fairy godmother, TWICE UPON A MIDNIGHT is a Cinderella story that readers of Regency romance will love!
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Anna fell in love with historical romances—and all those dashing Regency heroes—while living in London, where she studied literature and theatre and found herself lost nearly every day. A USA Today best selling author, she loves to travel, fly airplanes, and ballroom dance, and when she isn’t busy writing her next novel, she can usually be found in her garden, fussing over her roses. She loves all things chocolate and coffee, is a terrible cook, and hopes one day to use her oven for something other than shoe storage.
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
Signed copy of A Problem Princess by Anna Harrington,
Signed Copy of A Remarkable Rogue by Anna Harrington
– 1 winner each!
(US Only. If international winner is chosen, a gift card will be substituted.)
October 2, 2023
What is the Secret of Blossom Rise?
When a young nurse takes a job at an old military hospital she finds the answers to an old family question – what is the secret of Blossom Rise Hospital? Who is the long-dead man who walks the grounds?
#Ebook #Audiobook #Paranormal #Ghoststory
September 29, 2023
Personal Demons – Blog Tour and Giveaway #UrbanFantasy
Dark, quirky, urban fantasy with a mystery plot, a dash of social commentary, and a sprinkling of slow-burn romantic potential.
Personal Demons
The Rifter Series Book 2
by L.R. Braden
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Suspense
Protecting her secret and hunting demons is a matter of survival for possessed-practitioner Mira Fuentes. She’s spent years learning to work with the snarky demon housed in her body, and it hasn’t always gone smoothly. Nor has her recent partnership with an agent of the Paranatural Task Force. Ty Williams—uncomfortably-attractive and overly-protective—may never fully accept that his partner has a literal inner demon.
But work-life-demon balance is the least of Mira’s problems when a figure from her past drags her back to the hometown she’s avoided for nearly a decade to investigate a string of potentially-magical disappearances. Someone or something is snatching teens from the local high school.
Emotionally off-balance in a city full of old ghosts and new dangers, Mira will have to confront her past to discover what is hunting the innocent.
Praise for L. R. Braden:
“My new ‘auto-buy’ author. I love everything this woman writes.”—J.D. Brown, award-winning author of the Ema Marx Series
“A fast-paced, engrossing, unexpected, and tension-filled magical work…A great read for every female lead Urban Fantasy enthusiast.”—The Queen of Swords, NetGalley reviewer on Demon Riding Shotgun
“I LOVED this book. It’s got fun. It’s got depth. It’s definitely going to stick with me.”—Lydia R, NetGalley reviewer on Demon Riding Shotgun
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Demon Riding Shotgun
The Rifter Series Book 1
Possessed by a demon since she was eleven years old, Mira Fuentes maintains a fragile alliance with the snarky soul who shares her body. Together they hunt down unstable Rifters– demon-controlled humans bent on causing chaos in the mortal realm. But when a routine hunt leads to a powerful Rifter with plans for Baltimore, Mira quickly finds herself in over her head and at the top of the city’s Most Wanted.
Recently retired from the PTF after losing his partner, Ty Williams now works for the Baltimore PD and keeps his distance from cases involving magic. But when a person dies of clearly magical causes and the PTF doesn’t have any agents to spare, Ty is the closest thing the department has to an expert. Saddled with a new partner he doesn’t want and a mountain of self-doubt, it’s his job to track down a suspect who looks suspiciously like the one-night-stand he brought home from the bar last night.
Mira will have to set her trust issues aside and enlist the help of a man determined to uncover her secrets if she hopes to learn the identity of the demon’s host and prevent the human race from becoming meat puppets for the denizens of the Rift.
On COURTING DARKNESS: “This book was a fantastic second installment to the Magicsmith series… Truly brilliant writing!”–Richelle Rodarte, NetGalley Reviewer
“The plot was engrossing, fascinating and action-filled.”–Pam Guynn, NetGalley Reviewer on Faerie Forged
**Only .99cents!**
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L.R. Braden is the bestselling author of the Magicsmith and Rifter urban fantasy series, as well as several works of short fiction. Her writing has won the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Sci-fi/Fantasy, the First Horizon Award for debut authors, the Imadjinn Award for Best Urban Fantasy, and the Colorado Authors League Award for writing excellence in multiple categories. She was also honored as a finalist for the 2023 Colorado Book Award in Sci-fi/Fantasy and for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year award in 2021 and 2023.
While she loves to travel, she’s always happy to come home to Colorado, where she lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her wonderful husband, precocious daughter, and two quirky cats. When not writing, she spends her time playing games, enjoying the great outdoors, and weaving metal into intricate chain mail jewelry that she sells in her Etsy shop, WimsiDesign.
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$20 Amazon
Swift Six Author Interview – W. E. Parker #Scifi
Name: W.E Parker
Please introduce yourself (250 words or so):
My name is William Eric Parker, or W.E. Parker as I go by as a pen name. I’ve been writing since I was around 13 years old, I first started doing fantasy stories with a dose of comedy but then letter graduated into the Science Fiction genre – again with stories that didn’t take themselves too seriously. Nowadays, my books have developed to be a lot longer, more in depth, and with a focus on the narrative and most importantly the development/changes of the characters. I like to write for a range of audiences, but my more adult stories are the ones I feel I can explore without as much limitation in the content. My current novel is called the Cloudscape Chronicles, which I will expand upon in due course. I am from Britain, and so everything I write is steeped in British sayings and occasionally culture. This is something inherent to me that I feel is reflected in my work. Outside of writing, history is my favourite thing to delve into and to read about.
Tell us about your book(s) – title, genre etc (short)
My current novel, as I’ve said, is the Cloudscape Chronicles. It’s about a world surrounded by a poison mist called the Surround that threatens to slowly enclose in on the inhabitants of the planet. Despite this, life goes on in a very stab each other’s back world where organised crime and corrupt politicians dominate. Admdist it all, one criminal uncovers a deranged cult with a sinister plan that stemmed from a simple missing person’s case and so has to embark on a journey to undo the cult all the while taking no credit for it.
When did you start your writing adventure? What was the inspiration for it?
My inspiration comes from a number of sources. Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, both these have contributed to the humour I like to employ in my novels. While the worldbuilding comes from authors like Philip Pullman, writing about humanity but within a different world and context. I started the journey of writing this novel in 2021 and have been promoting it in any way I can ever since while working on future titles.
What writing plans do you have for the future?
The Cloudscape is a world where I feel I have struck gold, as such my writing plans surround the idea of expanding the world further and exploring new stories with new characters.
What do you like to read?
I like to read historical non-fiction mainly, I do like to read Fantasy and Sci-Fi stories but I find myself wishing for a certain blend of humour and drama that’s difficult to come across and so I may be termed “picky” when it comes to reading fiction.
What piece of advice do you wish you’d had when you’d started your writing adventure?
I wish I knew it was OK to improvise and come up with the next part of the plot on the spot. Planning is good and I always plan, but the story will often find itself and turn out all the better for it.
Author bio and book synopsis
(Refer to first question), book synopsis:
“In the Cloudscape, the only guarantee is the world will eventually be consumed by a relentless poisonous mist dubbed ‘The Surround.’ But that doesn’t stop the inhabitants from organising themselves appropriately, to their own benefit…
After another drunken stupor, the Scape’s seemingly most useless inhabitant Alphie Ateal finds himself pulled back from the brink of death for a new assignment that’ll put him face to face with the lowest scumbags humanity has to offer. Luckily, he’s one of them. Unfortunately for Alphie, he’ll have to clear his afternoon of organised crime as he uncovers a cult’s sinister plot that’ll threaten the Scape’s already fragile existence.“
Links/Social media
AMAZON BOOK LINK, PAPERBACK AND KINDLE
weparkerbooks_ = Instagram page
September 26, 2023
Remarkable Magic – Blog Tour #YA #Fantasy
Amid new threats and unsettling discoveries, hope still perseveres.
Remarkable Magic
The Hybrid Magic Chronicles Book 3
by Cristy L. Bowlin
Genre: YA Fantasy
Amid new threats and unsettling discoveries, hope still perseveres. Aaron is done letting the Defenders control his life. He refuses to continue running and hiding. The Defenders claim that hybrid mages are dangerous abominations, but Aaron and Lilith are determined to prove otherwise. Meanwhile, Elara and Theo are grappling with formidable new abilities that they never expected to possess. Striking out on their own, Aaron and his friends discover another group of hybrid mages living in the desert who are preparing to fight. New alliances are forged, yet not everyone agrees on how to confront the Defenders. When more people see what hybrid magic can do, it could either be revered or feared even more. Aaron and his friends must make some tough decisions before those choices are taken from them.
**Don’t miss the other books in the series!**
Hybrid Magic
The Hybrid Magic Chronicles Book 1
Innovative Magic
The Hybrid Magic Chronicles Book 2
Cristy L. Bowlin is an English professor at Oxnard College and author of The Temple Dancer’s Diary and The Hybrid Magic Chronicles, set in the fantasy realm of the Deravine Commonwealth. She currently lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, and pet cat. When she isn’t reading or writing, she is most likely dancing, hiking, or getting invested in (another) TV series.
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$10 Amazon
September 23, 2023
The Magik Scarf – Blog Tour and Giveaway #YA #Fantasy
Magik, once unleashed, can have very unpredictable results…
The Magik Scarf
World of Daegries Series Book 1
by M.K. Browning
Genre: YA Fantasy
The journey into the World of Daegries starts with M. K. Browning’s exciting prelude, The Magik Scarf.“Powerful quest fantasy filled with magik and adventure.” – early reader “This book is great with characterizations!” – Andrea G. “This book is perfect for young readers seeking a traditional fantasy novel that emphasizes family relationships, self-worth, and loyalty.” – Liz R. Magik, once unleashed, can have very unpredictable results…
Sixteen-year-old Alyssa Chance Oh had been called many things. Magician, sorcerer’s apprentice, even witch. But nothing had prepared her for being called a failure.
After botching her first solo spell, where she only partially reanimates her grandfather into a voice in a toy jack-in-the-box, Alyssa has to set out to find and return a gryphon king’s magik scarf or else he will do something unspeakable to her grandmother.
But that sneaky scarf is not where the king said it was, and now the only way to get to it is through a dragon’s lair.
**Only .99cents!**
M.K. Browning is an emerging author of young adult epic fantasy. Author, grandmother, wife, and proud dog mom, M.K. is known for her character-driven fiction which stems from her fourteen-plus years of experience as an indie author under another pen name (see books by Kim Smith). M.K. lives in central Florida with her hubby and her Chihuahua, Darby, who runs their lives.
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$10 Amazon
September 21, 2023
Honey Mead Murder Blog Tour and Giveaway – #LGBTQ #MMRomance, #CozyMystery
Get ready for a charmingly quirky romance with a twist of murder mystery in Honey Mead Murder!
Honey Mead Murder
Honey Bear Cosy Mysteries Book 1
by Dahlia Donovan
Genre: LGBTQ MM Romance, Cozy Mystery
Get ready for a charmingly quirky romance with a twist of murder mystery in Honey Mead Murder!
Follow the heart-warming story of George Bernard Sheth, a devoted pug and bee lover, who has been secretly crushing on a local mead brewer. But when a customer dies during a mead tasting, Murphy Baird, the brewer, finds himself at the centre of a police investigation.
As the two navigate the murder mystery, they find themselves falling deeper in love, all while trying to stay alive long enough for their first date. With meddling friends and unexpected plot twists, “Honey Mead Murder” is a must-read for anyone who loves a good MM romance and a thrilling mystery.
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Dahlia Donovan wrote her first romance series after a crazy dream about shifters and damsels in distress. She prefers irreverent humour and unconventional characters. An autistic and occasional hermit, her life wouldn’t be complete without her husband and her massive collection of books and video games.
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$5 Amazon
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 18, 2023
Mystics in Hell – Blog Tour and Guest Post #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy
Check out this awesome blog tour from Perseid Press – and I’m the guest post author:)
Join the doomed on their vision quests in eleven stories by the damnedest writers in Perdition
Mystics in Hell
A Heroes in Hell Anthology
by Janet Morris
Genre: Dark Fantasy Anthology
Mystic Madness!
Join the doomed on their vision quests in eleven stories by the damnedest writers in Perdition: Janet Morris; A.L. Butcher; Joe Bonadonna; Andrew P. Weston; Gustavo Bondoni; Seth Lindberg; Tom Barczak; Michael H. Hanson; Louis Antonelli; Christopher Crosby Morris.
Mystics in Hell is the latest volume in the notorious Heroes in Hell series of anthologies and novels created by Janet Morris.
A Frame of Mind by Janet Morris & Chris Morris
Kit Marlowe treks back from exile, where he has encountered three witches. Carrying a skull which he found on a blasted heath, he arrives at the Globe, where Satan and the angel of death accost him. At their displeasure, he’s banished once more, this time to return instantly via the powers of the Fates. Satan meets him at a cast party and decrees that Kit not only will spy for him, but play Banquo, beheaded in each subsequent performance of Macbeth.
The Come Right Inn by Andrew P. Weston
Where we meet up with one of Satan’s most secretive agents. A charming woman with a finger—and most other body parts—in every pie. She’s bewitching, beguiling, and bedeviled to be sure, but won’t think twice about skinning you alive if you cross her.
Abode of Woe by A.L. Butcher
When the self-proclaimed anti-messiah builds a temple on their doorstep and ruins business, Calchas and Cassandra look to some devious means to bring down the walls. Dueling mystics and misinformation bring mayhem to the underworld.
Fool’s Gold by S.E. Lindberg
A tale of the Egyptian god of mysticism, Thoth, who seeks conspirators to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone; with it, Thoth could usurp Satan’s control of the realm of Duat. Taking up the charge is Howard Carter, infamous antiquarian and tomb raider, and the disgraced evolutionist Ernst Haeckel. They discover that King Midas’s alchemical ability to transmute flesh into gold relies on the stolen stone, and Midas is producing Hell’s new gastro-currency: buttcoin. They infiltrate the Mortuary Mint and sabotage the currency’s production. Instead of returning the stone to Thoth, the duo uses it to build up their own fortune. The auditors of Hell, namely the First and Second of the Sibitti, police the matter.
The True Believer by Lou Antonelli
Few national leaders of the 20th century had as much of a negative and controversial impact on history as Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, prime minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966, when he was assassinated. Commonly referred to in South Africa as “Dr.” Verwoerd, he had a PhD in psychology, and went down in history as The Man Who Invented Apartheid. Now in Hell, Dr. Verwoerd refuses to acknowledge his infernal fate and gets a special visit to set him straight.
By Any Means Necessary by Gustavo Bondoni
Umberto Eco knows he’s in Hell; the suffering and multiple deaths that never kill him permanently are more than enough of a clue for a man of his learning. But when he gets forcibly recruited by Nazi Commando Otto Skorzeny to prove the theories of one of history’s greatest charlatans, he thinks things can’t get any worse. He’s wrong. Hell can always get worse.
Excalibur by Tom Barczak
When dealing with the harsh reality of the Afterlife: Hell can be hard. But Rasputin has something even harder, and Lafayette Ronald Hubbard desperately needs it if he is going to pull off the greatest magic trick Hell has ever known.
On The Run by Michael H. Hanson
Tells of Sufi mystic Rumi, Zen Buddhist Dōgen, and Charlatan Spiritualist Mina Crandon using their new-found magics on the grandest of all quests, to find powerful talismans that will allow them to escape Hell itself.
The Sorcerous Apprentice by Andrew P. Weston
Daemon Grim learns new tricks from an old dog. And just as well. There’s a fallen saint to bring to heel, and she’s not known for playing ball . . . crystal or otherwise.
The Colossus of Hell by Joe Bonadonna
Doctor Victor Frankenstein and computer scientist Alan Turing want to build a cyborg. Quasimodo wants to win the hand of the French fortune teller, Marie Anne Lenormand. Rasputin and Cagliostro want to open an exclusive, private club. And a mysterious damned soul, known only as the Orange Ogre, wants revenge against anyone in Hell who ever cheated or betrayed him, laughed at and humiliated him, or even ignored him—especially His Satanic Majesty himself.
Strange Arts by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
In a Tower cell, Marlowe’s head struggles to regain consciousness and rejoin his body. Here he finds his Elizabethan spymaster, Walsingham, waiting with J the Merciful and three mysterious Sisters. After painfully stitching together his body and soul, the five entreat him to join their most secret conspiracy.
**On Sale for Only $2.99 until the end of the month!**
British-born A. L. Butcher is an avid reader and creator of worlds, a poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history, and monkeys. Her prose has been described as ‘dark and gritty’ and her poetry as ‘evocative’. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of things that might have been, never were, but could be.
Alex is the author of the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles and the Tales of Erana lyrical fantasy series. She also has several short stories in the fantasy, fantasy romance genres with occasional forays into gothic style horror, including the Legacy of the Mask series. With a background in politics, classical studies, ancient history and myth, her affinities bring an eclectic and unique flavour in her work, mixing reality and dream in alchemical proportions that bring her characters and worlds to life.
She also curates speculative fiction themed book bundles on Pubshare – for the most part – the Here Be Series
Alex is also proud to be a writer for Perseid Press where her work features in Heroika: Dragon Eaters, Heroika Skirmishers – where she was editor and cover designer as well as writer – as well as Lovers in Hell and Mystics in Hell – part of the acclaimed Heroes in Hell series. http://www.theperseidpress.com/
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$10 Amazon
Interview with A. L. Butcher
What is something unique/quirky about you?
I’m not sure anyone is ‘unique’, quirky yes but the forces around us, and within us mean we cannot be wholly ‘unique’.
Quirky things about me:
When I was little I wanted to be a squirrel when I grew up.
I’m afraid of dolls, puppets and clowns.
I probably have dyspraxia – I fall over often, walk into things, trip over my own feet, drop things, I have poor spatial awareness, and absolutely no sense of direction.
Can you, for those who don’t know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I’m British, currently living in the Southwest UK – Bristol, although I grew up in a small town North of London. I write adult fantasy – sword and sorcery with sizzle, historical fantasy, short gothic horror and poetry.
I’ve been a storyteller for as long as I can remember, raised in a household filled with books and stories. I was always the one writing the story or poem for the school event, and I was considered ‘imaginative’ and daydreaming at school. I think a storyteller is what you are, not what you become. Of course, you can learn the craft – the technical side of it – but the actual stories – they come (whether you like it or not).
I published the first novel in 2012 – the first of The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles series of dark adult fantasy/fantasy romance. The idea came from an adventure I’d written for a role-playing game (yeah, I am a nerd), which never got used and I adapted it to a world I’d created for a different project. The rest of the series and the companion series came about from that.
At the time my mother was in the last stages of cancer and I was determined to finish book one so she could see it and she told everyone – and I mean EVERYONE. Writing is therapeutic, it helps one lose oneself in new worlds and new situations, it’s creative (obviously) but it’s a puzzle – what happens next? Who are these people in this story, what is going to happen to them? It gives the brain something to focus on, which is away from the real world.
My Legacy of the Mask series stems from characters from the Phantom of the Opera – one of the enduring loves of my life. I’ve been captivated by that story, it’s tragic antihero and the love and mystery of it for over 35 years.
Who is your hero and why?
Gaston Leroux, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley – for writing some of the great gothic horror tales.
Agatha Christie – because her mystery stories are superb and she’s the best selling author ever.
Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo– because epic novels rock.
Tolkein – because of the world building and the mythic telling. Lord of the Rings is at the heart of much British fantasy.
David Attenborough – because he’s the foremost naturalist of our age and his love of nature inspires me.
Which of your stories/novels can you imagine being made into a movie?
I really hate this question, I actually have no idea. I’d guess my second novel – The Shining Citadel. It’s a fun adventure.
What inspired you to write Abode of Woe?
The main characters are Cassandra – the prophetess of Troy, Calchas – seer of Agamemnon, the Reverend Henry Prince – a Victorian era ‘messiah’ of sorts and his rival/second in command John Hugh Smyth-Piggott. We have two ancient mystics who between them influenced the fall of Troy and two Victorian wannabee messiahs who set up the Abode of Love and ‘persuaded’ gullible women to hand over their virtue and worldly possessions to be ‘blessed’. They are fun characters – very different, and there’s a lot of dark humour.
I love ancient mythology, I have a background in Classical Studies and Troy and its fall fascinates me. The two Victorian gentlemen – charismatic and surprisingly successful. They are interesting characters. And I wondered what would happen if they met one another.
Hell is a challenge to write, but it’s an amazing shared world and there’s a lot of scope for mischief.
Convince us why you feel your story is a must read.
There’s dark humour, a fiend called Kevin and a duel – with cannons…. Two ancient mystics, two modern (relatively) would-be messiahs and lots of mischief.
The Heroes in Hell series is a lot of fun – darkly humorous, very dystopian, and where else would you find famous people from history – from ancient to modern – living side by side and having very unusual adventures? Not for the faint hearted or those who like a happy ending – it’s Hell. Mankind’s final and eternal damnation, but it’s clever, and varied and anything happens.
What is your advice to new authors?
Write what you want to write, and what makes you happy.Before you publish make sure you read all the FAQs and Terms of Service of the site/publisher. Ensure you are clear what is required of you, and if you’re self-publishing ensure you understand what is involved and don’t cut corners.Success is relative.Don’t worry about reviews – there will always be someone who doesn’t like your book, but there will be someone else who thinks it’s great. Reviews are one person’s opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.Excerpt
The Abode of Woe
Paradise’s dim light grew ever dimmer as the hell-lights began to glare with the blue glow of sulfur. It was an unforgiving light for the unforgiven. Word had got around, and crowds had begun to gather for the evening’s entertainment. Calchas had started a book on the outcome of the battle, and the diablos were rolling in.
“Two to One for the Pig Man!” yelled a grifter clad in the sharpest suit of the evening.
“Seven to Four for the Prince!” bellowed another voice, shrill in the crowd.
Kevin the fiend grinned. He was having the time of his unlife; he’d read the small-print.
“Are they ready?” Calchas asked, eying the large and sinister cloth-covered mounds on opposing sides of the temple.
“Yep. Ready for mayhem, master.” A smiling fiend is not something to stir the heart with confidence or joy and Calchas sobered. He wondered if he should feel guilty, but he had enough of that to last a thousand lifetimes and these New Dead had brought it on themselves. At least that is what he told himself and Cassandra.
“Ego fighting ego will bring no good for either. A temple built in haste to honor mere vanity and lies will surely fall to dust.” Cassandra stared at the mounds, hoping these fire-spiting death machines would not bring them all to the Undertaker’s door. Were they too close? She closed her eyes and let her mind wander.
“Will we be punished for this venture?” He’d asked, thinking too late they may have erred and voicing both their fears. He hoped nothing would backfire; plans in hell oft went awry. And he knew that sooner or later he’d pay the price for this deceit.
“This is Hades. Punishment is inherent. But I think not . . . at least not on this day. ‘Rue thy former life, and revel in thy afterlife, for thou art damned.’ Is that not the advice you once gave me? We are the damned. We must survive as we may. But those infernal and wicked weapons of the new-dead — Surely the walls of Ilium would have fallen on the first day.” She paused, “Would we have fought with such demon-weapons of war?”
Calchas gazed over to the two looming cloth-bound shapes. “Probably. Priam and Agamemnon would have found some means to destroy one another, no doubt. Man’s capacity for war outweighs his capacity for reason — and this place is full of the testimonials to that.”
“They will fall in dust as vain men are wont to do.” Cassandra told him.
“They won’t go through with it. It would be suicide. That building will fall down in the next hell-storm,” Calchas replied, doubtful.
They’d watched the crowd assemble from a reasonable distance. “Pack up. In case. And I will try to steer the mayhem from our door to be on the safe side, should the range of those war-weapons be enough to hit us. Make sure you are careful where you stand.
“Look there’s old Assisi. Out for the entertainment, along with everyone else by the looks. Let’s see — drinks are half-price.” Calchas would not let this opportunity pass.
Cassandra nodded, “Where did you get the fire-spitters?”
“Che Guevara owes me a favor. It might be useful to keep one—just in case. How hard can they be to use? Look, come there are our two brave heroes.” Calchas separated himself from Cassandra, still in the guise of the department man, and wandered over to the two Prophets.
“So, gentlemen, are we ready to settle this? Remember the winner gets control of that site, should it still be standing. The loser, or losers . . .will have more immediate issues to deal with.” Calchas motioned to the nearer of the covered shapes. “Who would like Big Bertha?”
The Reverend Henry Prince stared doubtfully at the shape. “That’s not a sword, or a firearm.”
“Give that make a Heck-Cookie!” Kevin chortled. He’d been milling and warming up the onlookers. With a flourish he tugged the cloth away — to reveal a howitzer, pointing towards the Temple of Woe. It was an evil-looking device, as were many man-made machines of death. “Humans, they do like to kill one another in all sorts of inventive ways! Welcome Big Bertha. She’s a friendly girl!”
“And the other?” Smyth-Pigott asked, his voice tremulous.
They walked across to a lower-slung shape. “Gentlemen, meet Roaring Meg, the deadly maiden of the English Roundheads,” Kevin chuckled.
“Not your era, I suppose, but they do the job. They are primed for combat. Meg has helpers: she fires but one ball at a time, yet she’s a fiery lass and one of the more knowledgeable operatives of hell has evened the odds.” Calchas held his palm out, containing dice. “Whoever rolls snake-eyes gets first choice, but Meg is a little slower, and older, and thus she fires first.”
“What happens if we refuse this ridiculous plan?” Henry Prince could not take his eyes from the cannon.
“Refuse? I wasn’t aware that was an option.” Calchas feigned surprise.
Kevin murmured something in Calchas’ ear, “My associate says it is an option but if a refusal is forthcoming then all rights are revoked to build now and for infernity, Sentence will be the six-hundred and sixty-five years of cleaning Perish sewers, and you must publicly affirm your rival as the true Chosen One, the true heir and the ultimate seer. And as both are equally guilty you will have to work together, and your women too, forever. If both refuse, then it must be done at exactly the same time. Whomever speaks first is deemed the greater coward.”
September 17, 2023
Check out the Legacy of The Mask Series
Award-winning #historicalfantasy based on the #PhantomoftheOpera.
Echoes of a Song:
A dozen tumultuous years after the dramatic events at the Paris Opera House Raoul, Comte de Chagny is still haunted by the mysterious Opera Ghost – the creature of legend who held staff at the Opera House under his thrall, kidnapped Raoul’s lover and murdered his brother. In Raoul’s troubled imagination the ghosts of the past are everywhere, and strange and powerful music still calls in his dreams.
Madness, obsession and the legacy of the past weave their spell in this short, tragic tale based on the Phantom of the Opera.
Best fantasy 2019 on reviewer site NN Light Book Heaven!
Available on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and many other stores on the link below.
Universal Link https://books2read.com/Echoesofasong
Tears and Crimson Velvet
Madame Giry finds herself embroiled in the tragedy unfolding at the Opera house; mystery and murder stalk the corridors and, it is said, a ghost haunts the place. Giry knows the truth, for she recalls the caged man she met so many years ago. This is her story, their story.
When murder and mystery begin at the Opera House one woman knows who is behind it, and what really lies beneath the mask. Secrets, lies and tragedy sing a powerful song in this ‘might have been’ tale.
Winner of the 2020 Best Short Story award on NNLight Book Heaven
A short, tragic tale based on characters from Phantom of the Opera.
A Legacy of the Mask Tale.
https://books2read.com/TearsandCrimson
